Perth's second-quarter blitz has shot down the injury-hit Brisbane, Bryce Cotton scoring 36 points in a 112-85 win that leaves the Bullets' NBL season on the ropes.
Cotton had been relatively quiet in two previous clashes with Brisbane this year, but exploded in the second quarter as they rallied from an early eight-point deficit to avoid a banana skin moment against the depleted side.
Bullets pair Josh Bannan (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Casey Prather (32 points, 11 rebounds) were a two-man band for the hosts, who were without Rocco Zikarsky, Emmett Naar, Deng Adel and Tyrell Harrison on Wednesday.
Bannan had appeared in serious doubt after slipping and twisting his knee in a Saturday loss.
The crafty forward combined superbly with Prather in a small-ball line-up that disrupted the Wildcats.
He had the first eight points and then assisted Prather's first bucket, the pair scoring all of Brisbane's first 18 points.
Cotton had an early rest as the hosts went up by eight points, but the Perth star returned to drive twice to the basket late in the first quarter and level the scores.
With the juices flowing he nailed two quick triples, the Wildcats accelerating in a 21-4 run to begin the quarter and open up a 23-point lead at the main break behind the most lopsided quarter (38-15) of the season.
Perth made their first eight three-point attempts in a perfect storm the hosts had no cover from.
The Bullets did find their flow again, whittling the deficit to 11 points.
But they fluffed a three-on-one breakaway though and Cotton steadied with a smooth floater as the gap widened again.
Keanu Pinder (19 points, six rebounds) and import forward Dylan Windler (16 points, six rebounds) showed range as well as power around the rim.
The Bullets (10-13) had won six of eight games to right the ship.
But a fifth loss from their last six starts sees them slip to seventh on percentage and two wins outside the finals cut-off.
Perth (14-9) kept the heat on second-placed Melbourne (15-9) and will host Adelaide on Friday.